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A brand new beginning awaits us all By Darrell Sharpe, MA The windows here at the MCI Norfolk Prison-Security Housing unity extend from floor to ceiling, about eight feet high. They're only five inches wide-impossible for anyone to escape through, and the glass is clear. That surprised me. Most segregation units I've landed in have cell windows that are completely frosted over from the outside, making it impossible to look through them. But here at MCI Norfolk we have lots of beauti...

A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS By DARIN BUFALINOT There is a proverb that says a rising tide lifts all boats. The colloquial -or simile being that a good thing for one is a good thing for all. Of course there is always an exception, in this case if the boat happens to be on the bottom of the ocean or anchored so that it can not move freely it will not rise on the tide. If we look at some of the recent laws enacted in the United States to protect now recognized constitutional rights and just fo...

A TOUR THROUGH THE ircles of Hell BY PATRICK 0’SHEA COMMITTEE TO END MARION LOCKDOWN Demonstrators march toward the gates of Marion prison. CORRECTION OFFICER DAVID HALE was horri~ fied by the barbaric and brutal actions of his fellow officers. “I can’t describe it to you ——-I’ve never seen beatings like that,” he recalled. “At least 50 guys got it, maybe more. I seen them carry one inmate down the hall with a guard on each leg and one on each arm. The assistant warden comes down the hall and...

Arboretum by Karter Kane Reed I stood there staring My heart wrenched My feet like anchors Unable to turn away from the horror Behind the double row of fences topped with glistening razorwire Lay the greens and browns of trees Swaying in the majestic beauty And it pains me to see them caged that way Behind those fences Unable to breathe Suffocated It's inhumane! The loudspeaker comes to life, and a Voice tells me It's time to go The trees hardly seem to notice Oblivious to my pain A...

C L A S S I F I E D Willing to kill for $22. 50 Americans have always had a personal affinity for those who have made the sacrafice to defend our freedoms. Everyday we pass by veterans without a second glance, except for those who bare the wounds of their past with scars and missing limbs. Evidence that they continue to fight long after they have left the battlefield. It was not until the Gulf War that we got to witness first hand the the battle these heros face when the conditions at the Wal...

COMMUTATION An epidemic is slowly taking root throughout the United States prison system. As of 2010, State and federal prisons house more than 26,000 inmates 65+ years old and nearly five times that number 55 and up. 1 The boom is a direct result of the "get tough on crime legislation from the SO's and 90's. These policies have generally caused the nation's inmate prison population to jump from 330,000 in ~980 to over a million by 1995; a tripling of the population repres...

CRISIS IN THE GULAG "Dementia Patients at MCI Shirley" by Timothy J. Muise ******‘k The state medium security prison in Shirley, Massachusetts, known as "Shirley Medium" is home to the Assisted Daily living (ADL) Unit and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for all of Massachusetts state prisons. The rapidly increasing aging prisoner population end up housed in five (5) man dorm rooms or a 14 bed "corridor" in this combined unit hospital. ‘Most of these elderly and in...

Far FY0111 Home by Karter Kane Reed Welcome home, I think to myself ' The home of the dead Buried just a stone’s throw from your world Yet a world away But I breathe the same air I’m a caged animal No different than you Just a smaller cage Under the same sky Bound to my shadow by the same sun But conﬁned to myself Ostracized from pleasure Alone in contagious misery A life left unlived An unturned stone Under an overcast sky Free to dream... So again I close my eyes Free to dream

I SEE SAID THE BLIND MAN' AS HE LOOKED NT HIS HAMMER AND SAW By DARIN BUFALINO 1/7/2015 Of the over 2 million mengwomen and obﬁildren incarcerated in the United States,85% of those incarcerations are rooted in some sort of alcohol,drug or substance abuse. The numbers you have just read are not fictional nor is the following story.What you have just read is sad,what you are about to read has broken more hardened criminals than any sentence a trial court could handout. This is a familiar s...

Matthew Crane Massachusetts [No Title] I was just 3 months into an 18-month sentence for a technical violation of my probation; I failed to report for my scheduled probation date. Given the fact that I was in school and working part-time before my incarceration, I was having a difficult time adjusting to life inside. There are only so many hours one can play cards or watch T.V. My time was also occupied by the recovery work I was doing on myself. Just 2 weeks before I was moved to the 4-3 uni...

When Public Officials engage in Conspiracies to Cover up Potential Criminal Acts --- Far too often the Guilty Parties are not held Accountable by the Criminal Justice System. HOW THEN WE ASK: Are Famiiies of the Victims to Ooieio Ciosme on éﬁzetice? “My Mother Was Never the Same” Veil Kre11°s lost contact with her brother George Owen Smith took place book in 1940. At the young age of 14, George was sent off to (me of F1.orida’s most brutal Reform Schools, the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys ...

Life on the Inside by Karter Kane Reed I would like to start by telling you a bit about myself. Like any human being, I am a unique individual with my own eccentricities and idiosyncrasies while also sharing in common with you- and everyone else—many traits, characteristics, and quirks. I am very much different than you. and very much the same. - » Growing up, I was a pretty smart kid and learned readily, something I carried with me into adulthood. I like to think of myself as complex and mul...

Magic and Old Milwaukee by Timothy J. Muise *~k~k*~k** In high school I built dories! That's right, I was in a class for what they called "behavioral problems" and we built 19', lap streak, Cape Banks dories. It was a wonderful class and I learned there about pride and accomplishment; I learned about the soul of a Gloucesterman. Project Adeventure did more than limit the trouble I got into, but it afforded me the life skills I would need to survive a very tumultuous life t...

Maker Greets "His" Mobster By Shawn Fisher Not to long ago the prisoners at MCI Shirley put a tremendous amount of effort into converting what was once a weight-room into what is now a Christian place of worship. This 44'x48' room now resembles a chapel that would rival any in the outside world. With a handmade Altar a built in Tabernacle and pews donated from the Saint John's seminary, over 117 can sit comfortably as they listen to the Word of God. On September 10, 2...

media fear factor and av dangerous overreaction by Timothy J. Muise ~74 ‘V. J. .7’ J. J. J; t\ 1 5 A t\ l\ 1\ (x So the Boston Globe wanted to_come in‘to a Massachusetts prison and speak to the "prisoners"? Sounds like a good idea, but let me tell you about how I see it. -' . The week of June 26, 2011, the Boston Globe sent a reporter into MCI Shirley for a story we are still not too certain about. This reporter spoke to some prisoners, but was steered away from some men who ha...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED By Mike Skinner The Event: The Second Annual WALK FOR HUNGER, to raise money for PROJECT BREAD. The Location: Shirley Medium Prison, Shirley, Massachusetts. The Mission: To push my friend Joe Labriola in his wheelchair for twenty miles and set the record for the farthest distance ever done inside a Massachusetts State Prison. The Challenges: To do it on a small, old beat up, dirt track that is riddled with ruts and pot holes and in dire need of repairs. To do it with an o...

My Brief Escape The day is cold, cloudy, and a blustery spring day. It is wet with rain, devoid of sunlight, and mimics my mind. As I sit staring between the bars of my cell, just past the fence and rolls of constantia razor wire, I gaze upon the still sleeping woods that surround me. All I see is, dismal, dank, dirty brown blemish to the landscape. The rising temperatures and shinning sun of days gone by, as of yet, have not been able to coax the colorful, luscious green leaves to appear. Bo...

Never Forget by Timothy J. Muisa When I walk these grounds, I am amazed at how many men are oblivious of the gravity of their circumstances. As life ebbs and flows outside of the razor wire, we worry about what's for chow or who is the latest topic of gossip. When did we forget that it is "Us vs. Them"? The Captor vs. the Jailed? Where did it all go south? How and why - did we forget that we are in PRISON! Prisoner apathy is one true villain holding back the push for humane tre...

Save Us from More Collateral Damage bY Milton L. Rice, MS, o.P. It would surely seem that there is no end to retributive "dumb on crime" rhetoric propelled by media hype and the usual "knee jerk" legislative proposals in the aftermath of a regretable and unfortunate death. A death of one member of a "special class" of people. Is it not enough that qualified and/or absolute immunity allows "the long blue line" along with prosecutors and other select gove...

.3 U E N I L E J U S T I C E eal ossiility of a avo US. Toca V. Louisiana P. I. O’Shea The Key Issue in the Toca. Case Involved the Retroactive Application of Miller V. Alabama. E‘: is indeed somewhat of a rare occurrence when a prosecutor, especially one Who for many years, had adamantly opposed any earlier deals, moves to moot a case that the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear. That is exactly what has just happened in the case of T oca V. Lauisitmal. The issue in T oca involves...

SENTENCING JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO LIFE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE IN MASSACHUSEIT S SHOULD JUVENILES BE TREATED THE SAME AS ADULTS ? By Patrick O'Shea When it comes to the issue of the severity of punishment handed out to juvenile offenders, Massachusetts has a long and torrid history of treating some juvenile offenders more harshly than adults. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The problems inherent in dealing with the treatment of juvenile offenders in an antiquated criminal justice syste...

By DARIN hUFALlNO, Let me share with you some of things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving DayeBefore I doysome will recall after seeing the by» line that I have been quiet lately,today I am putting pen to paper in an effort to dissipate an explosive amount of negative energy into something positive. rm‘ ‘O h - . r‘ F‘ - I _ - ‘I 1 v the lay or: in typical asnion H You F-ing guys don't know how good you have it,just imagine if you were in one of those foreign prisons,you think you would...

The Devil’s Bargain by Karter Kane Reed I don’t remember the ﬁrst lie that I told my mother; I’m not even sure that I remember the last; but I remember the worst: Don ’I worry. It probably doesn’t even seem that bad. It’s not such a big lie aﬁer all. And unlike most lies that kids tell their parents, it wasn’t even intentional————I didn’t even know that it was a lie. In fact, it took about four years before it actually became a lie; four years before the whole world changed and my lie became ...

By 'Omar ' Abdullah o~ / n~ Page 1 The Black Robe 1 As the floating Black Robe began to ~ink down behind the wooden pulpit, my brain needed so desperately to be disimprisoned from all the complexities of an impending doom. Life, as I knew it, was over . I could ba~ely hear those bone-chilling remarks from that dark, ghoulish-like creature, as I wondered , if it was truly a man. "Mr . John Earl Willis, on count number one, charging you with the crime of murder in the first degre...